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Feuding Rock, Vin Diesel Kept Apart By Handlers

Last August, Universal insisted that The Fate of the Furious stars Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Vin Diesel had buried the hatchet after feuding on the set of the eighth film in the Fast and Furious franchise. Fast-forward eight months, and the bad blood continues.

Sources say the two tough-guy actors are being kept from one another as the Fast team continues its press tour in the run-up to the F. Gary Gray-helmed film hitting theaters April 14.

"They're keeping them separated as much as possible," says an insider.

That sequestering will be most obvious today when Universal brings footage of the film to CinemaCon in Las Vegas, where Diesel, Charlize Theron,
and the rest of the cast will be on hand to promote the eighth
installment in the $4 billion franchise. That is minus Johnson, who is
already back on the set of Ballers in Miami. But just 12 hours earlier, Johnson was in LasVegas,participating inParamount's Baywatch presentation at CinemaCon. And Monday night, he introduced Sony's Jumanji at the high-profile exhibition showcase.

Universal
downplayed any simmering tensions and said the two actors simply have
been on different continents throughout the tour. But sources say that
the CinemaCon scheduling could have been easily accommodated.

The
beef dates back to the waning days of the 100-day Atlanta shoot when
the frequently tardy Diesel arrived late for his final scene with
Johnson, prompting Johnson to vent about his co-star on Facebook,
where he wrote cryptically: "My female co-stars are always amazing, and
I love 'em.

My male co-stars however are a different story," adding
that "some" are "chicken shit" and "candy asses." That led to a heated
exchange between Diesel and Johnson in the latter's trailer. Diesel was
publicly fingered as the source of Johnson's social media outburst, and
the studio was left doing damage control for two key players in its
mega-franchise.

Diesel is the indispensable part of the franchise,
having been with it since its first outing in 2001 (two more
installments are already in the works).

But Johnson is arguably the
bigger star, having solidified his status as one of Hollywood's biggest
box-office draws.

At
the time, a studio source said, "What happened is over, and no one
expects there to be any lingering effects. When it comes time to promote
the movie, this will have no bearing."

But
outside of the film's trailer launch in Times Square in December, the
two have kept their distance (both are contractually obligated to appear
at the upcoming New York premiere April 8).

Still, there's little
chance the bad blood will have any negative effect on the film. If
anything, it bolsters the film's narrative of two adversaries unwilling
to back down.